How China waged an infowar against U.S. interests in the Philippines

Poppy McPherson and Karen Lema

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MANILA, Oct 6 (Reuters) - As Chinese ships fired water cannons at Philippine vessels in the South China Sea in November 2021, Beijing's then-ambassador to Manila asked Filipinos on Facebook to share their favorite things about China.

Among the hundreds of gushing responses were three from a young man named “Vince Dimaano.”

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His comments - like many responding to the Chinese embassy’s posts - weren’t genuine. They came from fake accounts paid for by the diplomatic mission, according to internal documents from a Manila-based marketing agency.

The firm, InfinitUs Marketing Solutions, waged a cyber campaign paid for by China to weaken support for Philippine government policy and to sow discord over Manila’s security alliance with the United States, according to a review of the documents and the fake Facebook (META.O), opens new tab accounts, as well as interviews with two former company employees and two Philippine officials.

The Chinese-owned company also used the fake profiles to amplify anti-American content created by Filipino writers, including some who had received money from Beijing, Reuters found.

InfinitUs and its owner Paul Li did not respond to questions. The company has previously denied any involvement with “illicit digital activity.”

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters that Beijing doesn’t interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Allegations of Chinese influence campaigns made by some Filipino politicians “have failed and instead have backfired,” the spokesperson said.

The explosion of social media has turbocharged influence operations in the Philippines , according to Jonathan Malaya, until recently a senior official with the Philippine National Security Council. Manila is of increasing strategic importance to Washington and Beijing due to its proximity to Taiwan. China’s leaders have asked their military to be ready to seize the democratically governed island by 2027.